


I’m Not Afraid

by WGW2468



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-18 14:24:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14854454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WGW2468/pseuds/WGW2468
Summary: A few bad choices lead to Aquaria being dragged miles and miles away to a country town. With the past still haunting her. Will she find someone to chase the ghosts away?





	1. Chapter 1

Aquaria was pissed off.

Her baby pink acrylic nails were chipped from lugging her suitcase from train to train, her usually pristinely styled hair was plastered to her head from the sizzling heat of the southern sun, not to mention that she’d been forced to move miles away from her friends (Well, after what had happened, friend. Without the S)

She’d hoped that Sharon had been joking when she said they were moving miles and miles away from New York to the country, but she wasn’t. And it was shit there. They’d been there 10 minutes and Aquaria had already seen way more cows than people. And all the people looked like they’d been born in the Stone Age. They were at least 40.

“Mom, please tell me this is a practical joke, can we go home now?”.

The blonde haired girl knew the chances of that working were slim, but after all, she was the queen of wishful thinking.

“No Aquaria, we live here now. There’s nothing left for you in New York”

“I don’t know anyone here! I hate it! My friends are back in NY, monét will go mad without me”

Sharon slammed a box full of kitchenware onto the table.

“Aquaria! That’s enough. Your “friends” are back in New York alright, probably spreading more rumours about you. That’s if, they even were rumours.”

Aquaria felt bile rise in her throat. Her eyes prickled with tears, and her voice shook as she spoke.

“How could you even say that? You know they weren’t true! And even if they were, a lot of girls at that school were doing way worse things. We both know the only reason you dragged me here is cause you broke up with Alaska and you’re too pathetic to deal with the consequences” With that, Aquaria marched up to her room and slammed the door. The windows rattled and some crusty paint floated down from the faded ceiling. 

Aquaria lay in bed for what seemed like forever, staring at the dusty walls while her eyes watered. How had she got herself into this mess?

~~~~~

Aquaria walked into school with her head down, eyes trained on the ground.

The New York air was thick and musty, and she held in a cough, trying not to draw attention to herself.

She knew everyone was staring at her, could feel their eyes drilling into the back of her head.

She whipped out her phone, trying to look preoccupied, and opened Facebook. Almost all of the girls, Vanessa, Kalorie, Yuhua and Dusty had left her on read, refusing to talk to her since she’d argued with Vixen. Reluctantly, she opened her locker. Post it notes spilled out of her locker like a waterfall of dirty words.

SLUT.

WHORE.

BITCH.

Aquaria sighed as she scrambled to the floor to pick up the paper. Before she knew it, another pair of hands were helping her dispose of the evidence.

“Well girl, at least there aren’t as many this time”. Monét gave Aquaria a toothy grin. 

“Ye, that’s true”

Aquaria grinned halfheartedly. her face was unusually barren of makeup and she wore a faded grey hoodie with jeans. Monét was worried. She’d been trying for days to make the girls see sense and forgive Aquaria, but they wouldn’t be nice again until vixen was. And that girl only came to school to fight.

“Aquaria, are you sure you don’t want to try sitting with us again? I mean, they can’t ignore you forever right?”

Aquaria looked over her shoulder where the group of girls were giggling and glancing over at her, hatred written all over their faces.

“Nah it’s ok, I’ll just go to the library or something”

And so Aquaria walked down the hall, alone, while all her former friends walked the other way.

Like a zombie, she trudged through the corridors, muttering apologies as she bumped into people. She stopped dead in her tracks.

On the library was a gigantic luminous red sign.

~Library closed due to leaky roof~

Shit. Where was she meant to go now?

She couldn’t go to the cafeteria. Too many people staring at her, and not in the way she liked.

That’s how she found herself spending her lunch time hunched in a toilet cubicle, eating a crusty 2 day old sandwich that she couldn’t be bothered to take out of her bag. How pathetic. At least it was quiet in the restroom. At least she could stay out of trouble in there.

How wrong she was.

She’d only been there about 20 minutes when she heard footsteps entering the restroom. But these weren’t the footsteps of carefree girls, these footsteps had a purpose.

“I know you’re in there Aquaria. You can’t hide from me.”

Oh no. Quickly, Aquaria yanked her gangly legs up to rest on the toilet seat, muffling her heavy breathing with her hand.

BANG.

The first cubicle door gets kicked through by vixen. No one in there.

“If you don’t come out now it’ll be worse for you”

WHACK

Another cubicle door slams against the wall.

A few seconds go by. Silence. Aquaria released a shallow breath she didn’t know she was holding. Vixen must have gone.

BANG.

aquaria was blinded by the harsh light as the door flew off its hinges. In front of her stood vixen with venom in her eyes.

Teeth curled into a grimace, she stalked forward.

“Found you Aquaria”

~~~~~

“Aquaria! Wake up! God, you slept in your clothes? I know you don’t want to be here but at least make an effort!”

What? Where was she? Aquaria woke up in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar house. She stretched he arms above her head in a momentary state of ignorant bliss. And then it hit her. She was in the country, alone, about to go to school, alone.

“Mom, I don’t feel so good, can I stay home?”

That wasn’t really a lie. Her anxiety was flaring up like a kid with allergies in a meadow. 

And she kind of looked ill, her mascara had run down her face like a river and her eyes were red and puffy from poor sleep and crying.

Safe to say, her mom dragged her out of bed and into the shower.

She felt marginally better after that, and resigned herself to a day of boring classes. At least no one hated her in that school. Yet.

Pulling her pink jacket over her shoulders, Aquaria shouted bye to her mom as she left the house.

“Love you too Aquaria” Sharon shouted teasingly.

“Ugh fine love you!”

"I’m glad someone loves me, hi I’m Katelyn!”

Aquaria whipped her head around to see a short blonde girl grinning at her.

“Hi, I’m Aquaria. Sorry, I was talking to my mum”. She smiled back sheepishly, embarrassment written all over her face.

“At least you’re mum is around, my parents are away with work so I’m stuck with my goofy sister. It’s all good though, she’s pretty fun.”

Aquaria was amazed by how kind this girl was being. In New York, even the nicest girls often read Aquaria for her heavy make up or bold sense of style. Despite being naturally shy, Aquaria was desperate to make a friend.

“So, do you catch the bus to school too? I’m not sure exactly what time it is but I’m guessing it should be here soon”

“Oh no! The bus left like an hour ago. You do know our school is ages away right? It’s still closer than the nearest McDonald’s though. It’s so depressing. Do you want a ride?”

Aquaria cleared her throat. “Oh yeah sure! As long as your sister doesn’t mind?”

Katelyn laughed. “No, that idiot is 3 years older than me, she doesn’t have to attend that hellhole school anymore. Besides, It’ll be fun to have some company on the ride there. Me and my friends can show you around then, if you want” 

And just like that, Aquaria made her first friend.

Her first day actually didn’t go as bad as she thought.

They got to school just in time, and it was clear to Aquaria that just like her old school, it was a shithole. Just a smaller shithole.This may seem strange, but she loved it there. Unlike Katelyn and her friends, most of the other kids weren’t nice, but they weren’t not nice either. Being able to walk the corridors without having to watch her back and listen to jealous whispers was such a weight off her shoulders, she finally felt safe in school after months of being on edge.

After school, she nipped home to change, and reluctantly admitted to a smug Sharon that she actually didn’t hate it as much as she hated school in NY. 

After changing into comfy sweatpants and a hoody (“I chose looks they chose books”- classic Aquaria) she went next door to Katelyns house. The school year started earlier there than it did in New York, so Katelyn said she’d help Aquaria catch up.

 

“Wtf even is a prokaryote? I’m never going to pass this class ugh”. Aquaria face planted her textbook while stuffing red m&ms into her mouth.

“It’s a cell without a nucleus? Or is it with a nucleus. I don’t even care anymore”

“Same. My brain is hurting from too much science”

“ Breaking bad counts as chemistry right? Wanna binge watch?”

“Yes!!”

4 episodes later, the two girls knew a lot about brewing crystal meth, but not a lot relevant to chem class. Aquaria could feel her eyelids getting heavy, and held back a yawn as Katelyn pressed play on the fifth episode. 

Everything went black as Aquaria slowly drifted off to sleep.

BANG. The door flew open.

Aquaria sat up quickly. “What the fuck was that?”

“OK KATELYN, TIME FOR DINNEEEEEEER”

 

 


	2. You’re not denying it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update! All the deep stuff is pretty much over now so from the next chapter onwards we can get properly into the story. I’ve got a plan for what’s to come but if there’s anything you’d particularly like to see let me know in the comments!

BANG. The door flew open.  
Aquaria sat up quickly. “What the fuck was that?”  
~~~~  
The noise of the door sent her memory reeling back to a few weeks ago, being crowded into the bathroom stall by vixen, not knowing how she was going to get out.  
“Found you Aquaria”  
Vixens teeth were bared, snarling at the blonde haired girl in front of her. And despite all the hate, despite the fact that Aquaria was scared out of her mind, she felt strangely betrayed. Furious that Vixen, who used to be her best friend, could turn on her that quickly, and all over a boy.  
Her only option was to try to reason with the threatening girl in front of her.  
“Look, I’m really sorry about the party ok? I’m guessing you weren’t happy I kissed Zak. But 1. It was spin the bottle, which you begged me to play, it didn’t mean anything. 2. You were chanting with everyone else, encouraging me to do it. I couldn’t back out could I? How would that look. I’d be a laughing stock. 3. You never told me you liked him! I never would have done it if I’d known. And 4, i don’t-“  
“Of course you would have! You were begging for it. Did you see what you wore? Barely anything, that’s what you wore. Your skirt looked like a belt, and you looked like a slut!”  
Aquaria took a sharp intake of breath. That comment hurt, it really hurt. Vixen knew that wasn’t the case, she knew how much Aquaria struggled to connect, to open up to people. She could barely string a coherent sentence together when she was talking to new people. People tended to assume that naturally, she slept around due to her looks, but looks can be deceiving. She sniffed once.  
“Aquaria, don’t try that with me. It ain’t gonna work. Stop crying those crocodile tears!”  
Aquaria looked up, trying to stop the torrent of tears flowing from her eyes like waterfalls. God she was pathetic, practically bawling over one word. Sharon raised her to be tougher than this.  
Aquaria cleared her throat, and looked vixen dead in the eye.  
“Before you interrupted me, I was trying to tell you that the kiss didn’t mean anything to me, because... because I don’t even like guys!”  
Oh no.  
She’d only gone and done it. She was up shit creek without a paddle. Stupid, stupid stupid! Aquaria could hit herself for being such a fool. Why would she tell the person who hated her the most her deepest secret. She felt like she was going to throw up.  
She’d never seen vixen speechless before.  
“You... You’re... what? A lesbian? Gay? Really?” Vixen spluttered.  
Aquaria has secretly hoped a sense of relief would come with coming out. Judging by the speed of her pulse, evidently not.  
“I mean ye. I guess. Maybe not idk? Forget I said anything. Please, PLEASE don’t tell anyone, if you ever valued our friendship. Please don’t, like, shout it out in the cafeteria or put it on Facebook or whatever else you’ve done to embarrass girls you don’t like in the past.”  
"Ok. I won’t do that,” Vixen said rather calmly. With that, she swiftly turned around and walked out of the bathroom.  
It’s safe to say, Aquaria was confused. And very suspicious. She carried on with the day, maintaining her facade of confidence. And some of the girls were even borderline nice to her again! Maybe Vixen had had a change of heart now. Maybe things would get better.  
That was until, in fifth period maths, Aquaria made eye contact with Kalorie and she gave her a look of concern and pity before fixing her gaze on the algebra in front of her.  
Still, nothing untoward happened until Aquaria was almost home. She liked to jog home most days, and had her favourite running playlist on.  
“Who run the world? Girls! We run this motha...”  
Aquaria sang the words quietly to herself, running in time to the music. All of a sudden, her music was rudely interrupted by an incoming call. “Hey monét, what’s up hun?”  
“Aquaria, where are you?” Monét sounded frantic  
“I’m almost home, why?”  
“Vixen.. the girls.. they did something... don’t go home Aquaria, I’m almost there”  
Frowning, Aquaria rounded the corner of her street.  
“Monét what are you... oh my god. Oh no... nononononono”  
Aquaria stopped dead in her tracks, her phone skidding to the ground. There was toilet paper and eggs all over her garden. But that was the least of Aquarias worries. Spray painted on her window, in massive red letters. One, horrible, painful word.  
“Dyke”  
Aquaria’s hands were shaking so much she could barely pick up her phone. A huge crack ran from one side of the screen to the other. Her Mom was gonna freak “Monét? Are you there?”  
“I’m 5 minutes away girl. Stay calm”  
“I need to you bring some stuff? Bleach or, i don’t even know! They’ve spray painted the window. My mom can’t see this! She’ll think it’s about her. She can’t know it’s about... this is a disaster! Fucking Vixen!”  
Aquaria had never felt this desperate before. Her eyes were streaming with uncontrollable tears, she could barely breath. She heard the screech of wheels as Monét sped around the corner in her jeep. She’d barely hit the breaks before sprinting out of the door, armed with some soap and a bucket full of sponges.  
“Don’t cry babe, I’ve got this, grab a sponge”  
Aquaria laughed between the tears. “You and your sponges, I swear! You still have some left over from that sponge dress you made for textiles class?”  
“Bitch! This is the sponge dress I made for textiles class”  
About 30 minutes later, and Aquaria had a clean window. But her garden was still a mess.  
“Cmon Aquaria, we cant clean the yard too. Come to mine, pretend you never came home and blame the eggs on Random kids”  
Aquaria sighed. That excuse would have to do.  
~~~  
“OK KATELYN, TIME FOR DINNER!”  
A high pitched, enthusiastic voice brought Aquaria out of her stupor. She had tears forming in the corner of her eyes which she quickly flicked away.  
She slowly looked over to see where the offending shout came from. Her jaw almost detached from her mouth as it hit the floor. Standing in the doorway, looking mildly confused, was the most beautiful girl- no, woman- Aquaria had ever seen.  
Her eyes were chocolate brown, dark but bright. Her long blonde hair was piled high on her head in a massive bin. Aquaria thought her glittery blue dress was stunning, it complemented her hair perfectly. And her smile. That smile was dangerous. Aquaria mentally shook herself. She needed to hold it together. She didn’t even know this girls name.  
The blonde girl walked over to her, and Aquaria literally had to check her lips for drool.  
Before she knew it, the woman was crouched beside her, as she whispered,“Is she sleeping?”  
Aquaria was confused, until she saw a dozing Katelyn sitting opposite her.  
She nodded her head in confirmation.  
With a determined grin, the woman carefully dropped a bag of takeaway food to the floor and crept to stand over Katelyn.  
Under any other circumstances, Aquaria would be freaked out with a random girl entering the house like this, but she was too enamoured with the mysterious woman.  
She was so quirky, it was almost predictable when she yelled “ITS TIIIIIMMME FORRRR DINNNERRRR” in front of Katelyn, scaring her awake as she screamed.  
The woman doubled over in laughter, and Aquaria couldn’t help but chuckle too.  
“Oh my God, Cracker you are such an idiot! I hate you!” Said Katelyn, trying to look angry but failing to hold back a grin  
“Excuse me? You don’t hate me doll! I’m your favourite sister who brings you Thai food and generously orders more than we need because her sixth sense knew that you’d have a friend here. Whom you rudely haven’t introduced me to. I thought I raised you better than that”  
Katelyn playfully hit the woman’s arm. “You didn’t raise me, thank God. If you did I’d probably have died from malnutrition considering I have to do the cooking after you almost burnt this place down when cooking pasta. Pasta!”  
Aquaria giggled politely, watching the cute exchange  
“Oh, I’m sorry, Aquaria this is my dopey sister brianna, brianna this is Aquaria, she lives next door and she’s cool”  
~~~  
Someone in the skies above had it out for Brianna. She decided to go on her first date in months (partly persuaded by katelyns constant nagging to find herself a woman) for the girl to turn out to be a weird stoner who’s vocabulary consisted of “YES GAWD MAMA” and “CMON, LETS GET SICKENING”. They had nothing in common whatsoever. It was awful. All Brianna wanted to do was just to come home, chuck on her pyjamas and eat junk food and possibly a pint of ice cream with her sister to drown her sorrows. Imagine her surprise when she opens the door to find her sister snoring on the couch, and sitting opposite her is a positively stunning girl. Brianna stood there gawping. Was her hair naturally that colour? It couldn’t be, that greyish blonde must be dye. It was hard to look away from her deep, azure eyes, as Brianna took note of her lightly freckled cheeks and cute dimples.  
“OKAY KATELYN ITS TIME FOR DINNER”  
Ugh, cracker, way to make a fool out of yourself! Brianna thought as she began her attempt to wake Katelyn up.  
~~  
“Oh, I’m sorry, Aquaria this is my dopey sister brianna, brianna this is Aquaria, she lives next door and she’s cool”  
What should she say to make her look like less of a weirdo? Think Brianna, think!  
“Hey Aquaria, you can just call me cracker if you want. Everyone else does”  
“Oh ok cool. Why cracker?”  
Brianna went bright red. This would definitely not make her look like less of a weirdo.  
“Oh, no reason really, it’s kind of embarrassing.”  
“It’s nowhere near as embarrassing as some of the other stuff you’ve done” said Katelyn. “Unless you’d rather me tell Aquaria about the time you got drunk down Asias and-“  
“Okay okay! Basically, Katelyn was like what 10? So I was like 13 and these girls about my age were picking on her and pushing her around in the park, just kids being kids I guess. I told them to stop and they wouldn’t so I just... well cracked... gave one of them a black eye. Not my best moment,but on the plus side my parents suggested I start karate class and now I’m a black belt karate teacher. I only fight in the dojo now, don’t worry!”  
Aquaria turned to face Brianna. “Aw that’s not embarrassing, that’s cute how you defended her like that!”  
“Ye, I guess, do you want to have dinner with us? I got pad Thai.”  
Aquaria stopped to think for a split second. She knew she’d managed to keep a conversation going without making a fool out of herself by mumbling for a lot longer than usual, so her luck was about to run out.  
“I’d love to, but my mom is probably gonna be back from work soon and I don’t want her thinking I’ve been kidnapped or something!”  
Cracker looked at Aquaria with amusement in her eyes. “Unless you drive a particularly fancy looking Range Rover, I think your moms already home”  
“SHIT. Well it was nice meeting you, maybe see you tomorrow Katelyn? If my mother doesn’t kill me of course”  
Katelyn laughed. “Ye sure, I’ll give you a lift again if you want? It’s fun having someone to drive with”  
Aquaria nodded as she left.  
As soon as the door clicked shut, Katelyn burst into laughter.  
“What?” Brianna asked bashfully  
“You have no chill. You may have well have come in with ‘marry me’ tattooed on your forehead”  
Brianna shook her head and grinned. “Shutup and eat your food kid"  
Katelyn stood up and walked towards the kitchen.  
She glanced back once at Brianna as she whispered “you’re not denying it”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thx for reading <3 just wondering, I have another fic in the works, would people rather shorter chapters added frequently or longer chapters added less regularly?


	3. 2 Parties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAYYY ITS TIME FOR ANOTHER CHAPTER.   
> I’m sorry if this is trash but I kept changing my mind about what was gonna happen and I had to stop myself otherwise we’d never have an update. Thank you all for the lovely comments so far X

“Cmon Aqua, it’ll be a great chance for you to get to know people in this area, or, you know, one person in particular” Katelyn winked at Aquaria from across the lunch table. She gestured very indiscreetly to Violet, who was examining her flawless manicure.   
Sure, Aquaria did want to get to know one person in particular. But they weren’t Violet. And they didn’t go to high school. And they just happened to live next door to her.  
She had to admit that Violet was stunning, and she seemed nice. Aquaria didn’t have much experience with dating, but maybe it was worth a shot?  
“Hmm, I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know anyone, you aren’t going, it’s a disaster waiting to happen!”   
Katelyn loved Aquaria, they’d become really close friends in the past couple of weeks that they’d known each other. She knew Aquaria was shy, and just wanted her to put herself out there and find someone. It also didn’t harm that she liked Violets best friend, Kameron, and thought that if Aquaria got to know Violet then she would have a chance with Kameron.   
“I think she likes you Aqua, please go, for me? I’ll sort out lifts and cover for you with your mom, I promise”   
Aquaria wasn’t sure how Violet Chachki could possibly like her. Violet was stunning, almost ethereal, with a tiny waist and a huge amount of confidence. Aquaria was, just Aquaria. Nothing special. But she’d go to the party, for Katelyn.   
Later that day, against her better judgement, Aquaria was stood outside her house in a stylish red thigh length dress, with her make up meticulously matched. To ease her concern of not knowing anyone, Katelyn had arranged for her friend Pearl to pick Aquaria up and introduce her to everyone at the party. But Pearl was late.   
Aquaria: Kate, you sure she’s going to this thing? She’s not here yet.   
Katelyn: Ye girl I’m sure, it’s Pearl she’s probably sleeping. Sorry I’m not going but you know I have this volunteering event I got dragged in to.  
With that, a blue Toyota came swerving round the corner.   
“Sorry I’m late Aqua, let’s go girl!”  
Aquaria had to admit, Pearl looked good. She was a vision in white - white crop top, skinny jeans and her blonde hair tied into cute plaits.   
Pearl beeped the horn, jolting Aquaria out of her trance. She got into the car, and they sped off to violets house.  
It was a bad idea. Aquaria didn’t want to go, she didn’t have a very good relationship with drink after she’d turned to vodka after everyone in New York found out about her “lack of interest in boys”. So she didn’t drink. But everyone else was, they were all tipsy, on their way to hammered. But she found herself in the kitchen, dancing with Pearl, Violet and Naomi, actually having a great time.   
When Pearl left to go out for a smoke, Violet grabbed Aquaria’s hand.   
“Let’s go upstairs for a sec, we can’t talk here, it’s too loud”  
Aquaria followed after Violet, squeezing through the throng of people and up the stairs. She didn’t really know how to feel, she was being lead upstairs, and into a bedroom -oh god- with a girl she liked. Did she even like Violet? If Katelyn was right, Violet liked her.   
Violet locked the door. She giggled. “Don’t want any drunks stumbling in here”  
Aquaria gulped.  
“Yeah, um so what did you want to talk about?”.  
Violet stalked towards her, like a lion stalking its prey. Violet licked her lips, getting crimson lipstick on her teeth. Was that meant to be sexy? Should Aquaria start doing it? She made a mental note to ask Katelyns opinion later.  
“I want to talk about how fucking hot you are”   
“Uhh, you... I’m... sorry what?” Aquaria couldnt speak at the best of times, but she was so flustered she could barely get a single word out.   
“Shhhh” Violet whispered.  
With that, she leaned in, kissing Aquaria hard. Aquaria stood frozen, not knowing what to do, as Violets tongue explored her mouth, spreading the taste of whiskey.   
“Vi, I’m sorry, we can’t, you’re drunk, I’m not, it’s not fair. Sorry”.   
Aquaria thought Violet would be hurt, or at the very least, a little angry.   
She was not expecting the response of “cool story bro”, as Violet casually sauntered out of the room, swaying as she left.   
She can’t have liked her that much then.   
As Aquaria left the room, her phone vibrated in her back pocket.  
Katelyn: How’s it going gal? Do me a favour, invite Pearl and Vi to my birthday party this Saturday. It’s at my place, invite anyone else you want :)  
Typical. Not only did Aquaria embarrass herself in front of one of the most popular girls at school, but now she had to face her again?   
I mean, if anyone asked, Aquaria didn’t kiss Violet back because she was drunk. It wasn’t like Aquaria was scared or anything. That was ridiculous. She wasn’t afraid of kissing pretty girls.   
Venturing into the kitchen, she decided to look for Violet and Pearl. The quicker she found them the quicker she could get home and pretend to watch Netflix while critically analysing all her life choices.   
As soon as she turned the corner, she found them. Snogging each other’s faces off.   
Aquaria swiftly turned around and walked out again. She wasn’t going to interrupt that, she’d just get Katelyn to text Violet later. Grabbing her bag, she opened the door, happily breathing in the fresh air as she walked through the dark garden.   
“Aquaria!”  
“Shit!” Aquaria was startled, wondering who on earth was hiding in the dark.  
A tall, muscular figure emerged from under a tree.  
“Sorry I startled you. It’s me, kameron. Um... I’m friends with Violet? I was just wondering if you were ok? You’re leaving pretty soon.”   
Wow. Aquaria had never heard him say so many words before. Kameron was a quiet boy, but was handsome with muscles and tattoos that made him look far more mature than all the other guys at school. All the girls, including Katelyn had a massive crush on him. Aquaria didn’t know why he was speaking to her of all people?  
“I’m fine thanks, gonna head home.”   
“On your own? What about your friend. Y’know, Katelyn?”  
Oh my god. Was he blushing?? Aquarias love life may be a car crash, but she could at least try to be a killer wing woman. It was now or never.  
“Nah, Katelyns not here, she had a thing. She’s actually having a party next Saturday, she wanted me to ask Pearl and Violet to come. And you, actually. She wants you to come too!”   
Kameron smiled. “Really? Awesome! We’ll be there”   
~~~  
“You did WHAT?”   
Katelyn shook her head in disbelief, shock and panic written all over her face.  
“Umm. Ye. I thought you liked him, it’s cool if he comes right?” Aquaria stuttered, mortified at the idea that she’d upset Katelyn.   
Katelyn grinned. “Ok ye, but you need to help me pic a STUNNING outfit. Gotta dress to impress.” She winked.   
~~~  
Aquaria stood in her underwear, scrutinising 3 meticulously put together outfits. “Dress to impress”. That’s what Katelyn had said. But who did she want to impress? If she wanted to impress Violet, make her jealous, she’d go for the gold miniskirt which clung to her ass. If she wanted to try to be “normal”, and hook up with a guy, she’d go for the black dress which barely contained her minimal cleavage. Maybe she didn’t need to impress anyone else? Maybe she should try to impress herself.   
Satisfied with this idea, Aquaria opted to pin her hair back in a sleek ponytail, and slipped on a sparkly dress with rhinestoned leggings. She smiled in the mirror and twirled, rhinestones sparkling in the light. She grabbed Katelyns gift and shouted to her mom that she’d probably be back the following morning.   
~~~   
It was a small gathering, with about 30 people celebrating Katelyns birthday.   
Aquaria was one of the last to arrive, Katelyn pulling her into a bear hug.   
“Omg girl you look STUNNING. Trying to impress a certain someone?” Aquaria asked, winking in the direction of Kameron. She continued, “he’s wearing a bow tie. That’s SO CUTE. You dressed up for each other”   
“Shutupppppp. Don’t tease me it’s my birthday"  
“Don’t worry Aquaria. It’s her birthday, all the more reason to tease her. She’s 18, SHES A WOMAAAAAN”   
Aquaria smiled goofily, dreamily staring at Brianna as she spoke. It’s safe to say that in the weeks since Aquaria first met Brianna, her slight fascination had developed into a full on unstoppable crush.   
To start, she was so, so funny. Her one liners never failed to make Aquaria laugh, even when she was having a bad day.   
She was so thoughtful too. Like when Katelyn was ill, Aquaria was strolling down the street, headed to the bus stop when Brianna pulled up, offering her a lift.  
And to top it all off, she was so SO pretty. It was almost a problem for Aquaria, how she could be chilling out with Katelyn watching a film or doing homework, and Brianna would just waltz in, leaving Aquaria speechless, captivated by the older girl.   
Which of course meant Briannas presence at the party might drive Aquaria crazy all night.   
And it did.   
~~   
“Ok guys, let’s play!”  
They all sat in a circle. Katelyn, Aquaria, Pearl, Violet, Kameron, Monique, Blair, Asia, Eureka, and Brianna.   
“How do you play again? It’s so confusing” Blair whined.  
“Easy. There’s dares written on slips of paper in that water bottle. When it’s your turn, shake it, pick a slip. If there’s a truth, answer it. If it’s a dare, read it out and then spin the bottle if you need another person to do it with. Do the dare, answer the truth or take off a piece of clothing. Simple. You’re not going to chicken out, are you Blair?” Violet had a sly grin, knowing that Blair couldn’t back out now she’d be challenged in front of everyone.  
She gulped. “Nope, I’ll play”   
Violet smiled, like the cat who caught the canary. “Ok, Katelyn, you go first"   
She looked slightly nervous. Who knows what Violet wrote on those cards.   
“So this is basically truth or dare and strip poker rolled into one? But without the poker. Obviously.” Katelyn said as she shook the bottle, trying to delay the inevitable.   
“Read it out girl!” Briannas friend Asia said excitedly.   
“Is it true you like someone in this room.”   
Aquaria held her breath as Katelyn contemplated her decision.   
“Well, I’m glad I’m wearing socks!” She said airily, taking off a blue ankle sock and throwing it to the side.   
Violet piped up, “if you aren’t gonna do it put it back in the bottle”   
“I swear you’re making up rules now vi!” Kameron said, shyly bantering with his friend.   
Pearl turned to face him “You’re only saying that cos you don’t want to draw that one, you quiet little minx”   
It was pearls turn.   
“Lick the floor. Cmon, I wanted something spicier than that.” Pearl tossed the paper to the side, and in one swift motion she kitten licked the wooden tiles, while remarks such as “disgusting” and “omg you dirty bitch” were exclaimed.   
The game continued. Nothing interesting happened for a while, people took shoes and socks off, the only dare Aquaria did was to eat a spoon full of cinnamon which she spat everywhere.   
Violet had to twerk for 20 seconds.   
When Kameron drew a dare to grind on someone, the bottle landing on Brianna, he took off his shirt without a moments hesitation. Katelyns eyes bulged out of her head when she saw his bare tattood chest.   
Aquaria squeezed Katelyns wrist as she whispered “bit obvious sis, I know you think he’s a hunk but you need to play hard to get. You may as well write ‘I have a crush’ on your forehead in neon letters”  
It was Brianna’s turn. She picked up the bottle daintily with her manicured hand and shook the bottle.   
“What’s the worst sexual experience you’ve ever had. Oh shit! Well let’s just say she wasn’t best pleased. Called me a Jewish barbie on bath salts just because I didn’t want to be tied up and shit. Oh no, I’d rather be doing the tying thank you very much. Pretty sure she had some fetishes anyways. She paid more attention to my feet than she did my-”   
“CRACKER, SHUT UP” Katelyn said, mortification written all over her face as she bit back a smile.   
Aquaria couldn’t even cope anymore. She thought she was going to have a heart attack, her heart was beating so fast her pulse was almost one continuous vibration. She could feel a flush rise on the back of her neck. When Brianna started talking about well.. that... Aquaria thought she was going to faint. She couldn’t deny it, she definitely had a crush. But she couldn’t acknowledge it. Conceal don’t feel, that was Aquarias method. Brianna was her best friends sister for God’s sake! And she was a good 3 or 4 years older than Aquaria. What would her mom say! But did she care?   
“Aquaria! Your turn hun.”   
Brianna grinned as she passed Aquaria the bottle.   
“Is it true you like someone in the room” well fuck. Without time to hesitate. Aquaria whipped off her leggings and threw them to the side. She shoved the slip back into the bottle and tossed it to the next person, thankful her dress was long enough to cover her ass. Before she knew it. It was her turn again.   
Even more nervous, Aquaria stuttered more than usual as she reached into the bottle. “Give someone a- oh for fucks sake vi!- give someone a lap dance for 30 seconds”. Reluctantly, Aquaria spun. Violet. Shit. Aquaria couldn’t even kiss her, how was she meant to give her a lap dance.   
“I’m uh not doing that.”   
Violet looked hungrily at Aquaria.  
“Then the dress comes off, baby"   
Aquaria gulped. Make a fool of herself, or have the whole room see her half naked. Tough choice.   
“Fuck”   
Hands shaking, she reached behind her, trying to find the zip of her dress.   
Violet wolf whistled.   
“Wait Aqua! Just take your bobble out.”   
Aquaria spun round to where the voice came from. Brianna. She could literally kiss her right now. With renewed confidence, Aquaria reached seductively to her head, flicking her hair down as she threw the bobble to Violet.   
“There you go... baby”   
Violet pouted. Her fun had been spoiled.   
“Haha you got cock blocked by a bobble" Kameron grinned.   
Violet nudged him. “I actually preferred it when you didn’t talk.”  
The game continued, the atmosphere getting tense as the dares got worse and clothing got discarded. It was Briannas turn.  
“Make out someone for 10 seconds.”   
Brianna groaned. She had to do it, or strip into her underwear. She spun the bottle. It passed Blair, Asia, Violet, Pearl. It began to slow down towards Katelyn.  
“Can we please agree that I don’t have to make out with my little sister? That’s just sick.”  
She didn’t have to worry about that, it passed Katelyn and spun for what seemed like forever. Then it landed on Aquaria.   
The chanting began.   
“KISS. KISS. KISS. KISS”  
Brianna graciously made her way to sit next to Aquaria.   
She leaned towards the younger girl and whispered "Ummm.. Aqua you don’t have to? Like don’t feel any pressure. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable”  
The chants got louder, the others oblivious to the secret conversation going on right in front of their eyes.   
“It’s fine”  
Aquaria was panicked. She’d barely kissed anyone properly and here she was about to kiss her crush in front of everyone. What if she panicked like with Violet? What if she was a terrible kisser and Brianna laughed at her. She tried to seem nonchalant but she was petrified on the inside.   
Brianna tucked some hair behind Aquarias ear.   
“Shhh. I can basically hear you thinking.”   
Aquarias mind went blank, all the background noise disappeared. All she could focus on was Briannas lips on hers, soft and gentle as a hand stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes as Brianna deepened the kiss, both girls oblivious to the fact that their 10 seconds was over. Everyone was gawking.   
“Yessss girl get it!!!”   
Asia’s shout brought them crashing back to reality, both girls pulling away hurriedly. With shaky legs, Aquaria stood up. “I’m going to get a drink.”  
She practically sprinted to the kitchen, breathing deeply as she poured herself a coke.   
As she was preparing herself to go back in, her phone buzzed.  
Katelyn: You may as well write ‘I have a crush’ on your forehead in neon letters ;) ;)


	4. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Katelyn learns of Aquaria’s meddling, she decides it’s her turn to be the wingman.

Katelyn woke up in her bed, with a banging headache, lots of messages on her phone and a huge smile on her face.   
Unknown: Hey Kate, it’s Kameron. Thanks for inviting my last night I had a great time :)   
Katelyn screeched into her pillow. How did he get her number? That wasn’t the most important thing. What should she say?   
Katelyn: Hi, No problem, I’m glad you came X   
She saved his number on her phone. A few seconds passed. Katelyn was freaking out. Should she have used an emoji? Was the X too desperate? Should she have added more X’s?   
She almost pounced on her phone as it vibrated again.   
Kameron: It was fun. Hope you don’t mind me texting you, Aquaria gave me your number. I was just wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me?   
Katelyn gasped. She could literally kiss Aquaria right now. Who knew that shy girl would be such a good wingman?   
Before she had a chance to reply, another text came through.  
Kameron: No Pressure! You don’t have to, I understand if you don’t want to.  
Katelyn: Ye totally! I’m down X   
I’m down? What was she, a stoner? Katelyn cursed herself.   
Kameron: Great :) you can bring Brianna and Aquaria if you want. They’re dating right?  
Katelyn was shook. Not only did the boy of her dreams ask her out, but she had the perfect opportunity to set her sister and her best friend up. Time to give Aquaria a taste of her own medicine.  
Katelyn: they aren’t dating yet... but I think they should be. My sister literally gives Aquaria puppy dog eyes all the time. It’s kind of disgusting.  
After meticulous planning, Katelyn and Kameron began “operation set them up.”   
~~~  
Later that day, Katelyn braced herself before entering Briannas room. “Breeeeee, you know cause you love me? Can you do me a favour tomorrow . I’m going out with Kameron... and-“   
“Kameron? Like, massive muscly Kameron. I don’t know how I feel about that. I need to know his intentions with my little sister.” Brianna spoke in a monotone voice, but her eyes were gleaming with mischief.   
Katelyn laughed. “Shuttup you geek. So we’re going to the movies to see this film but you can’t book just 2 tickets. So will you come with? It’s a horror.”   
Brianna smirked. “Hmm. I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to ‘cramp your style’ that’s what the kids say these days right?”  
“Pleeeeease” Katelyn begged. “I’ll buy you popcorn.”  
Brianna groaned. “Ugh fineee.”  
One down. One to go.   
~~~~  
Aquaria was much easier to convince. Katelyn had just said she was going to the movies, and Aquaria should meet her outside at 7.   
Imagine her surprise when she saw Katelyn chatting excitedly to Kameron, arms linked, smiles plastered across both of their faces.   
“Katelyn! I’m.. um” shit shit shit. Aquaria must have misunderstood, and here she is practically ruining a golden opportunity for Katelyn to get with her dream guy.   
“Aquaria! Come over here. We’re just waiting for another person, and then we’ll go in” said Katelyn with an innocent smile on her face.  
“Another person? Who?”   
Aquaria was secretly relieved. At least she wouldn’t be third wheeling now. Whoever this other person was, she could just chat with them, then go home and leave Katelyn to enjoy her night. And grill her on all the juicy details later.   
“Is it Pearl? She’ll probably fall asleep in the film” Aquaria chuckled at her own joke.   
Katelyn smiled. “Nah it’s not, oh look, here she is now. You’re cutting it fine Bree!”   
Aquaria’s mouth went dry. Code red code red. Her brain went to absolute jelly. What on earth was she meant to do? Could the ground just swallow her whole?  
She’d tried her absolute best to avoid Brianna after the truth or dare fiasco, she was utterly mortified. When she’d gone back into the room, Brianna had barely looked at her. She obviously regretted the kiss. Was it a bad kiss? Aquaria didn’t think so, but she didn’t have a lot to base it on. Maybe she thought Aquaria was too young, too childish. Or worse, maybe she thought she was ugly.  
~~~   
Brianna sprinted away from her car, cursing herself for spending so long at the gym. Karate was basically her drug; she was addicted. She wouldn’t usually be so worried about being on time, but she didn’t want to let her little sister down.  
When Katelyn said she couldn’t just buy 2 tickets, she’d assumed that there would be a big group of people. So she almost shat a brick when she jogged around the corner seeing Aquaria looking f l a w l e s s. Brianna had tried to avoid her since the party. Aquaria had basically ran out of the room after the kissing incident, she must have been embarrassed to have to kiss Brianna. She was 4 years older for gods sake. What was she thinking, kissing an 18 year old. Someone the same age as her little sister!   
She braced herself, and said hi to Katelyn with a crushing bear hug, before giving Aquaria a light hug. She lingered a bit longer than appropriate, relishing in the scent of aquarias fruity perfume. With a not so subtle cough courtesy of Katelyn, Brianna let go and turned to say hi to Kameron.   
~~   
A few minutes of awkwardness later, Katelyn and Kameron were seated to one side of the theatre while Aquaria and Brianna were sat the other side in the back row.   
Brianna tried to alleviate the awkwardness with a joke. “She booked these seats on purpose so I wouldn’t mock her for getting scared and cuddling up to mr muscle over there.”   
Aquaria whipped her head to face Brianna.   
“What do you mean scared? Katelyn told me this was a rom com?”   
Brianna laughed. “No... this is a horror.”  
Aquaria gulped. “Oh... like a comedy horror?”   
God, couldn’t she keep her cool for 5 seconds? Her voice had come out an octave higher than usual.   
“No. Like a HORROR horror. Like a- scariest film of the year, someone had a heart attack watching it based on a true story- horror”   
Aquaria took a deep breath. “Oh. Ok. Who even goes on a date to a horror movie anyways”  
Brianna grinned. “This is a date?”  
“No!... of course not! Um... not that it wouldn’t be amazing to go on a date with you... it would... but like... oh you know.. i um... Katelyn and Kameron are on a date. Ye. You thought he would have taken her like for ice cream or something? Not to a slasher film.” Nice talking Aquaria. She mentally kicked herself for sounding like a bumbling idiot.

“Not that it wouldn’t be amazing to go on a date with you.. it would”   
Briannas heart beat as fast as a hummingbirds wings as soon as she heard those words. She had a chance! But she was feeling so much internal conflict, like, that was Katelyns best friend! But she was just so pretty, and so nice... Briannas heart spoke for her.   
“We can wait outside, go for a walk or something, if you don’t like horrors.”  
Aquaria briefly considered this. She didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of Brianna, so she put on a brave face.   
“Nah it’s fine”  
~~~   
It wasn’t fine. Half an hour into the film, Aquaria thought she might faint. She was shaking, not because of the film, she wasn’t afraid of a scary movie, because the movie theatre was cold. And her knuckles were white from gripping the seat so hard. Not because she was scared though.   
All of a sudden, there was a hand on her arm. Aquaria literally leapt out of her seat and brought her hand to her mouth to muffle a scream.   
“Sorry Aqua! I just wondered if you wanted some popcorn... are you ok? You’re shivering.”  
“Ye I’m fine thanks, just cold.”   
Before she knew what was happening, a Brianna reached across and placed her leather jacket around Aquarias shoulders.   
“Thank you.” Aquaria gave Brianna a brief smile.  
20 more minutes passed. Aquaria had the jacket wrapped snuggly around her shoulders, trying to focus on anything but the twisted things that were happening on the screen.   
She let out a whine of terror as blood splattered on the screen.   
A few moments later, she felt a hand on her own, gently prying her fingers from the arm of the chair and stroking soothing circles into the palm of her hand. She grinned shyly at Brianna. Overcome with courage, Brianna removed her hand from Aquarias, only to put her arm around her.   
“Is this ok?” Brianna whispered.   
Aquaria smiled brightly, genuinely relaxed for the first time since the movie started. “It’s more than OK”   
Aquaria was really tempted to put her head on Brianna’s shoulder. But she didn’t want to push it and come across clingy or annoying.  
The rest of the film passed quickly, Aquaria feeling comforted as Brianna continued to stroke her hand and hold her close.   
Aquaria was glowing inside. Brianna waited til the last possible moment before unwrapping her arm from around Aquaria’s shoulders, when they met Kameron and Katelyn outside the theatre.   
Before the girls had a chance to speak, Kameron, usually quiet, turned to Brianna. “Is it ok if I take Katelyn for some dinner? I’ll have her home before midnight.”   
Aquaria felt strangely proud of Kameron for being brave enough to speak up. She wished she was that brave, brave enough to ask Brianna out on a proper date, one where she wasn’t scared out of her brain.   
“No” Brianna replied.   
If looks could kill, Katelyn would have resurrected a tombstone for Brianna, demolished it, and built her another grave.   
Brianna winked. “Only joking, of course. Don’t worry about getting her back by 12, she doesn’t have a curfew, I’m not her mom Jeez.”  
Kameron weakly smiled, confusion plastered all over his face. “Ok... thanks?”   
With that, they head off.   
Brianna smiles while looking at her feet.   
“Would you like a ride home Aqua?”  
“Yes please.”   
On the ride home, the two girls were overcome with laughter, singing along to cheesy songs on the radio.   
Halfway through the drive, when Aquaria was singing her heart out to “girls just want to have fun”, Brianna realised something. She was falling for the younger girl.   
Meanwhile, Aquaria didn’t come to a sudden realisation, apart from the fact that she didn’t particularly want the car ride to end.   
When Brianna parked, she had the urge to walk Aquaria to the gate. So she did.   
When they arrived, Aquaria said goodbye and began to walk into her yard. “I really had a nice night.” “Me too.”  
Brianna realised. It was now or never.   
“Aqua wait... Would you want to come out with me again? Like perhaps in a situation where you aren’t scared out of your mind?”  
“You knew I was scared?” Aquaria asked Brianna whilst looking embarrassed.   
“Ye I did... it’s ok though... it was a nice excuse to hold your hand. “   
Filled with courage, Aquaria walked closer to Brianna.  
“I almost forgot to give you your jacket back.  
“Keep it... it looks good on you”   
Aquaria grinned. “Thank you. Maybe it’ll stop me having nightmares about that film.”  
Brianna stepped closer to Aquaria until they were inches apart.   
“If you have any trouble sleeping, you call me. I’ll fight the nightmares away for you”  
Aquarias breath hitched. She couldn’t cope anymore.  
“You know I’m bad at speaking bree, just kiss me already. Please.”   
Their lips collided. It wasn’t like the party, there were no prying eyes. This kiss was slower, soft and gentle.  
If Aquaria died now, she wouldn’t have much to complain about.   
Brianna deepened the kiss, wrapping her arms around the younger girls waste as Aquaria flung her arms around Briannas neck, feeling like she was in a movie.  
They were rudely interrupted by a bright light as Aquaria’s living room lit up.   
She pulled away and smoothed down her hair.  
“Crap, my moms awake, I’d better go.”   
And with that she sprinted up the garden path, leaving Brianna without a jacket, and, more importantly, without her number.


End file.
